THE STATE’S FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM - 7260

(Revised: 11/2019)

(Renamed)

The Financial Information System for California (FI$Cal)

FI$Cal is the state’s integrated financial and administrative information technology (IT) system that supports accounting, budgeting, cash management, and procurement functions.  FI$Cal is a statewide enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that maximizes efficiency in the state’s business, implements best practices, limits the number of duplicative systems, provides the ability to produce statewide reports and analysis, and standardizes the state’s business processes.

The broad functional areas in FI$Cal are listed below.

• Accounting
• Asset Accounting
• Budgeting
• Cash Management
• Cost Accounting
• Financial Reporting
• Grant Management
• Procurement
• Project Cost Management

For a description of the FI$Cal business functionality, see the Department of FI$Cal website or contact the FI$Cal Change Management Office at fiscal.cmo@fiscal.ca.gov for additional information regarding FI$Cal functionality.

Implementation of FI$Cal

The Department of Finance, Department of General Services, the State Controller’s Office, and the State Treasurer’s Office formed a cooperative partnership to develop, implement and utilize FI$Cal, which has replaced the California State Accounting and Reporting System.  The Department of FI$Cal is responsible for implementing, onboarding, upgrading, and providing operational support for the system.

Entities Not Using FI$Cal

Except for specified deferred and exempt entities, all state agencies/departments are required to use FI$Cal. The deferred entities are not required to use the full functionality of FI$Cal until their existing systems become outdated or required upgrade. However, all the deferred and exempt entities must exchange necessary information with FI$Cal for specified purposes, such as budget development, contract and procurement reporting, and annual financial reporting.

Prior Approval Required to Acquire, Develop, and Enhance Financial and Administrative IT System

Agencies/departments may not design, develop, or acquire any automated financial and administrative IT systems or services that will duplicate the functionality in FI$Cal without prior approval from the California Department of Technology (CDT). Advance approval is required for any state agency/department that will:

1. Contract to design, develop, acquire, or implement a new financial and administrative IT system, or to modify, enhance, change, reconfigure, or upgrade an existing financial and administrative IT system.
2. Contract to procure hardware or software to modify, expand, change, enhance, or upgrade a financial and administrative IT system.

FI$Cal provides the financial, administrative, and business functionality needed by agencies/departments for their daily operations.  State agencies/departments should leverage these functionalities to ensure the state derive maximum benefits from the ERP system.

 

IT systems whose core functions are not accounting or administrative operations may have overlapping functionalities similar to those FI$Cal provides.  For example, a department case management system may also perform a billing function. Such sub-systems are exempt from the approval process but must interface to FI$Cal using the interface functionality available in FI$Cal. Contact the Department of FI$Cal Change Management Office at fiscal.cmo@fiscal.ca.gov to obtain a list of approved interfaces. The usage of FI$Cal interface functionality requires the approval of the Department of FI$Cal.

 

Exemption Request Process

A state agency/department with a critical business need that will not be met by FI$Cal may submit a request for exemption from this SAM section after consulting with the Department of FI$Cal, to ensure an exemption is needed. The written request should be submitted to the California Department of Technology (CDT) at ProjectOversight@state.ca.gov. The CDT will coordinate a review of the request with the Department of Finance, the Department of FI$Cal, and other partner agencies, if necessary, before responding to the requesting agency/department. Exemption approvals will be granted on a case-by-case basis. The exemption request must include the following minimum information:

1. A clear description of the critical business need or complex functionality that FI$Cal cannot address.
2. The adverse effects of not addressing the critical business need and the impact a delay could have on operations. The effects must be substantiated and quantified.
3. A summary of the alternatives considered.Include arguments for and against each alternative, as well as an estimate of one-time and ongoing implementation costs.
4. A high-level plan to implement the proposed solution with the following information:
   1. Design, development and implementation timeframes
   2. Critical project milestones
   3. Requisite approvals (state or federal if applicable)
   4. Funding decision points
   5. Procurement information